Fareed Zakaria Passes CNN, Time Magazine Reviews, Will Keep Jobs

Fareed Zakaria, the CNN host and Time editor-at-large who was suspended last week for plagiarizing in his latest magazine column and in a CNN blog, passed reviews by both news outlets and will be reinstated, the two media companies announced Thursday.

Both CNN and Time put the journalist on leave last Friday while they reviewed his work for more signs of plagiarism.

CNN said his show, "Fareed Zakaria GPS" will return to the air on Sunday, Aug. 26.

"CNN has completed its internal review of Fareed Zakaria’s work for CNN, including a look back at his Sunday programs, documentaries, and CNN.com blogs," the news network said in a statement Thursday. "The process was rigorous. We found nothing that merited continuing the suspension."

Time, too, called the plagiarism "an isolated incident" and said he will be reinstated and his next column will be printed Sept. 7.

"We are entirely satisfied that the language in question was an unintentional error and an isolated incident for which he has apologized," the magazine said in a statement. "We look forward to having Fareed's thoughtful and important voice back in the magazine with this next column in the issue that comes out on Sept. 7."

Zakaria, 48, apologized last Friday for lifting nearly verbatim passages from a Jill Lepore essay published in the New Yorker and using it in the Time magazine piece, saying it was a "terrible mistake."

Over the past week, criticism of the star journalist mounted as Zakaria began to draw comparisons to other reporters whose careers were marred by ethical breaches.

Zakaria lashed out at those scrutinizing his work — particularly those that targeted alleged misattributions in his bestseller "The Post American World" — telling the Washington Post's Paul Farhi that "people are piling on with every grudge or vendetta."

His citations, Zakaria said, were consistent with any journalistic book of nonfiction and that those accusing him of ripping off others work were simply judging the book by scholarly standards.

The conservative media watcher Newsbusters reported the similarities in the Time and New Yorker stories after receiving a tip from NRAnews.com, a National Rifle Association advocacy blog.

The Washington Post, where Zakaria has submitted numerous op-ed pieces, said Friday that it plans to conduct a review of his work with him.

"Fareed Zakaria is a valued contributor. We've never had any reason to doubt the integrity of his work for us," editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said in a statement to TheWrap through a spokeswoman. "Given his acknowledgment today, we intend to review his work with him."

Zakaria also drew criticism earlier this year after a commencement speech he delivered at Harvard apparently contained recycled material from one he gave earlier at Duke.

The plagiarism scandal erupted just more than a week after Jonah Lehrer resigned from the New Yorker in disgrace when a Tablet magazine reporter revealed that Lehrer had fabricated Bob Dylan quotes in his bestseller "Imagine: How Creativity Works" and lied when questioned about it.